


Reacquired Asset

by Mortal_Wonderland



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Betrayal, Bigotry & Prejudice, Character's Name Spelled as Hanji, Delusions, Established Relationship, Female Hange Zoë, Good versus Evil, Human Experimentation, Injury, Kidnapping, Loneliness, M/M, POV Eren Yeager, Pain, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Scared Eren Yeager, Torture, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:20:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25071550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mortal_Wonderland/pseuds/Mortal_Wonderland
Summary: Without warning Eren is suddenly taken from his cell and locked up away from his friends and teammates. Hidden away from the rest of the world he starts to think there is no hope of ever finding happiness again. No one is going to save him, no one even wants to, after all, he's a monster and it's the job of the military to kill monsters.
Relationships: Levi/Eren Yeager
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was the first ever story I wrote for this fandom and it was inspired by a picture I saw while scrolling through Pinterest. I'm a huge Ereri fan and have read way more fan fiction on them than I probably should have but I just can't seem to get enough.
> 
> This story isn't finished and I don't plan on finishing it either. I like to write in my own time and often switch from one story to another. I find that the pressure to finish a story usually makes me hate writing it and the story suffers because of it. That being said if the urge to continue ever pops up I will do so as I always keep my stories saved in case I want to go back to them one day.
> 
> I hope you enjoy what I have written for this.
> 
> -M

Eren tossed and turned unable to find a comfortable position to sleep in. The rattling of the chains every time he moved his wrists not helping in the slightest. He’d once again been forced to sleep chained up like an animal, though he couldn’t be too bitter about it since he’d practically volunteered, not wanting to cause any trouble for his squad.

Levi had tried to argue against it, but Eren knew it was the only way avoid issues with the higher ups. It comforted Eren to know that Levi hated treating him this way, but there was nothing that could be done about the situation, especially if they didn’t want to reveal to everyone they were involved with each other. Of course, the members of Levi’s squad were aware of their relationship, but other than that it seemed too risky to let anyone else know. Both Levi and Eren had agreed on that.

Eren turned over again, heaving out a loud sigh as the chains rattled once again. Despite his insistence on being fine with the confinement, he felt the same fear and loneliness he felt every time he was in this position. Eren couldn’t stop the trickling of fear as it invaded his body, reminding him that he was trapped and alone in the dark room. Chained and left like a wild animal, not even treated like a human anymore.

It took everything Eren had to remind himself that his squad, his friends, didn’t think of him in that way. They cared about him. It was purely because of the insistence of the Military Police that he was stuck like this. They didn’t trust him and if they had it their way he’d already be dead, his body strung up like a warning for the world to see.

He shuddered at the thought. Eren tried to think of something else, to force those ideas out of his head before he scared himself even further. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to shake those dark thoughts from his mind. The more he tried to push them away, the harder they fought to stay at the centre of his attention until he eventually managed to spend the entire night restlessly worrying over it and giving himself a migraine.

Despite the lack of windows in the dark dungeon, Eren managed to hazard a guess as to the time of day, highly suspecting it to be morning. He heaved a sigh of relief knowing someone would be down any minute to set him free of the restraints. Eren looked over to the blasted things and noted he’d managed to rub the skin raw with all the pulling of the chains. It was a damn good thing he healed quickly, though he still knew Mikasa and Levi would have a go at him for it. Mikasa would chastise him over causing himself unnecessary pain while Levi would grumble something about him being an idiotic brat who was unable to even look after himself. Eren would have chuckled lightly at the thought had his head not been throbbing.

The more time that passed the worse the pain seemed to get and even the small light coming from the hallway seemed to hurt his eyes. Eren closed his eyes in the hopes of lessening the throbbing, even slightly. He once again cursed the chains as they stopped him from rubbing his temples in order to soothe the pain. Even when he heard approaching footsteps Eren refused to open his eyes and instead tried not to wince in pain as the sounds echoed around his skull. When the rusty metal bars of the cell swung open with a loud screech he wanted to bury his head into the pillows.

Instead, he clenched his eyes shut tighter and waited for the sound of keys jingling to announcing his release. He wanted nothing more than to leave the stale dungeon and get some fresh air into his lungs.

Eren’s eyes snapped open when he felt a sharp pain in his neck. Standing over Eren was a man he didn’t recognise glaring daggers at him. He wore a scowl on his face like no other and held an empty syringe in his hand. Before Eren had a chance to question him he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him and all his muscles seemed to loose strength at once.

It was then that he noticed at least another three soldiers standing in his tiny cell, swords at the ready. Eren felt his heartbeat quicken and tried to sit up so he could defend himself if necessary. But no matter how hard he tried, his body wouldn’t respond. It took all his effort to even get his fingers to twitch. He could only watch helplessly as the soldiers began to move. Instead of attacking him though they seemed to put their swords away, somehow aware that he wasn’t a danger to anyone anymore. They moved silently as they unchained his wrists before manoeuvring him to that they could bind his hands behind his back.

Their forms seemed to swim in and out of focus as Eren tried to fight whatever drug was making him not only motionless but dizzy as well. Eren couldn’t understand what was happening. Who were these people? Why were they doing this? They were wearing military uniforms, so were they under some sort of orders? Where was Levi and the rest of his squad? Surely they didn’t know about this, they couldn’t. Eren refused to believe they would willingly let him be taken away from them.

With that thought in mind Eren tried to shout for help, knowing one of his friends would come to his aid. Much to his dismay his attempted scream came out as a pathetic whimper instead. Not giving up, Eren went to try again but just as he opened his mouth slightly a metal bar was being harshly shoved into it. The bar was some sort of gag that buckled around the back of his head. It must have been to stop him from trying to bite himself and turn into a Titan, though Eren doubted he could even manage to break skin in his current condition.

After making sure his arms were bound tightly behind his back, the soldier who had injected him picked him up with a grunt and swung Eren over his shoulder. Unable to protest Eren had no choice but to watch as they began to make their way out of the dungeon. His heart was hammering against his chest so hard he feared his captor could feel it.

The nausea from the drug increased tenfold as Eren was swung around on the man’s shoulder, only able to see bits and pieces of the world upside down. Eren watched as they made their way out of the hallway leading to the dungeon and through the rest of the castle.

“Eren!” Mikasa’s distressed call reached his ears as they walked out into the fresh air. Eren wriggled around as best he could, sweat forming on his brow from the effort, in order to look around for his sister. When he finally managed to catch sight of her his heart broke.

His whole squad was assembled outside surrounded by Military Police. Each of his friends had a gun trained directly at them with the exception of Mikasa and Levi. Mikasa had three guns trained on her while Levi was forced to stand with his hands in the air as five men stood around him, their guns practically in his face. Eren’s eyes caught Levi's for a second and he saw the seething anger in his scowl directed at the Military Police before his gaze softened to one of concealed worry when he spotted Eren.

“Quiet!” One of the Military Police soldiers barked at Mikasa.

“What are you doing?! Eren belongs with the Scouts, he belongs with us! You can’t just take him away!” Mikasa continued despite the weapons trained in her direction. Anyone would think she had no regard for her own life, though Eren knew if that were really true she would have tried something by now. It was obvious that her getting injured would in no way help Eren, so he watched as Mikasa’s only weapon were her words.

The man carrying Eren stopped abruptly causing his face to slam into the man’s back painfully. He let out a small whine around the gag in his mouth. Eren fought the increasing nausea the stop had caused as he waited for his eyes to come back into focus. Before he had a chance the man spun around to face Mikasa then. From the angle he was hanging at Eren managed to turn his head just enough to see half of his friends, including Armin, Mikasa and Levi.

“Eren Yaeger has been handed over to the Military Police. He is a clear threat to humanity and will therefore no longer be allowed to roam free with the Scout regimen.” He stated firmly without even a hint of remorse.

Eren watched as Levi fought the urge to even twitch. It was clear that if he so much as breathed in the wrong way they would consider him a threat and shoot. Eren supposed they were only being this extreme considering Levi was known for being a very skilled and deadly soldier who did not take kindly to people getting in his way. Despite his frozen stature Levi spoke with so much venom Eren was surprised he couldn’t injure with only his words, “If you’re under orders then why do you have guns pointed at my squadron.”

The Military Police soldier didn’t even hesitate before answering. “The higher ups believed it was for the best considering your squad’s reputation, especially as it is a known fact the freak’s friends are willing to go against military rule to protect him.”

It was Armin that spoke up then, “He’s not a freak!” His comment only earning him a gun thrust further into his face. Eren tried to move to protect his friend but the drug he’d been injected with was still making all his movements impossible. It seemed to begin to wear off at an unbearably slow pace leaving him with barely more mobility than he had initially. He wanted to growl out in frustration but once again the only sound that managed to escape was a whimper that he assumed went unheard. But as his friends turned their gazes to him he realised it must have been louder than he thought.

His eyes once again caught Levi’s and all he wanted in that moment was to be able to hug him. Eren could feel fear clawing at his lungs and he needed Levi next to him, to reassure and comfort him. This could be the last time he’d see any of them ever again and the thought terrified Eren more than dying did. Looking into those grey pools Eren wanted nothing more than to get lost in them. He wanted to forget today had ever happened and wake up in bed next to Levi, to see his annoyed scowl that was clearly trying to hide his affectionate smile first thing in the morning.

Instead all he saw was a pained and worried gaze. Even Levi knew that he was in no position to try and help Eren with five guns pointed directly at him and trigger happy soldiers in control of them. Eren saw the powerlessness in Levi’s eyes and knew the man was probably blaming himself for the situation. He was supposed to be Humanity’s Strongest Soldier and yet he couldn’t seem to get the people he cared about out of danger. When it mattered the most he was failing and it was killing him inside. And yet, even now Levi still managed to hide all of his pain behind a scowl and a glare that could kill. At the very least his expression was scaring the shit out of the soldiers meant to be guarding him, though it seemed that wasn’t doing the man any favours as they could possibly get so nervous that they shot him by accident.

The soldier holding Eren scoffed at Armin’s comment before speaking again. “Levi Ackermann, Mikasa Ackermann and Armin Arlelt your presence has been requested in Wall Cina immediately. The rest of the Levi squad is to remain here until your captain returns.” With that he nodded to some of the other soldiers before turning and marching forwards. Eren tried to see something, anything, but his view was now completely restricted by the soldier’s back.

It took less than a minute before the man was stopping again, this time tough Eren didn’t even get a chance to wonder why before he was being thrown forwards. He felt his body collide painfully with a wooden floor and grunted out in pain, his eyesight swimming once again. Eren tried to breathe through the pain and nausea but after a couple of seconds it only seemed to intensify rather than weaken. Before he knew it his vision began to go black and no matter how hard he fought to stay conscious he felt himself slipping away.


	2. Chapter 2

When Eren finally managed to blink his eyes open later it took a moment for his vision to focus and for him to orient himself to his surroundings. He could feel the surface he was lying on vibrating with movement and quickly realised he was lying on the floor of a carriage, most likely headed to Wall Cina.

“So, the mutt woke up huh?” Eren looked up to find three pairs of worried eyes trained on him, but once again, before he could even manage to consider the thought he was quickly interrupted. He felt a hard pain on his back, forcing him to roll forwards onto his front in the small space. His face was crushed against the floor and his nose was inches from a pair of boots. He tried to roll back, feeling his body had regained strength from earlier, but a strong and painful pressure was applied to his back forcing the air out of his lungs.

“Stop!” Eren heard Mikasa’s voice but was unable to turn his head to look at her.

“He’s tied up, there’s no reason to treat him this way.” Armin spoke calmly, though Eren could hear a hint of anger in his tone. The pressure was suddenly lifted from his back and Eren was forcefully pulled to lay on his back again. He tried to catch his breath though the gag in his mouth made it kind of hard. When he finally had a chance to take note of the people around him he noticed Mikasa, Armin and Levi were all sitting on one side of the carriage, their backs straight and their hands placed carefully on their knees, the posture looking extremely forced. There was a soldier on either side of the trio pointing their guns at them.

On the other side of the carriage sat another three soldiers, two of which were pointing weapons at his friends while the one in the middle was sneering down at Eren, his booted foot coming down onto his chest this time. Eren’s arms ached from the position he was lying in, each arm being squished from both the weight of his body and the added weight from the soldier’s boot.

“He’s a monster and deserves to be treated as such.” The soldier practically spat in reply. Eren angled his head slightly so he could look at his friends, needing to know he wasn’t alone and surrounded by people who despised him just yet. He noticed a tiny flicker of movement coming from Levi’s fingers, not even enough to be considered a twitch. At the movement all of the military Police soldiers in the carriage seemed to tense, their guns being raised even higher in preparation. “Don’t even think about it Ackermann, we’ve been instructed to shoot if you so much as look in the wrong direction.” Levi’s glare only grew stronger in response. Eren was surprised the soldiers hadn’t flinched from the glare, Levi had the capability of reducing a grown man to a shivering wreck with a single glare. Eren supposed it was due to the fact that they felt confident with so many measures in place to protect them from Levi, it must have given them some sort of false confidence or something. “Grab the syringe, we’ll use a double dose this time.”

“You’ll kill him.” Levi ground out through clenched teeth. “He’s already had triple the normal dose.”

The soldier only smiled as one of his comrades handed him a full syringe. “I guess we’ll see.” Eren tried to squirm away but his efforts were futile as the man’s boot held him in place. He leaned down and shoved the needle into his neck eliciting a grunt of pain from Eren. He felt the liquid entering his body and immediately felt its effects starting to take place. Instead of making him dizzy like the last time he felt suddenly very drowsy and couldn’t help as his breathing became heaving and his eyes started closing. He briefly wondered if they’d given him enough to kill him, but the thought slipped away just as quickly as it had come and Eren was once again lost to unconsciousness.

* * *

When Eren began to wake up for the second time his whole body felt extremely heavy and it took him a lot longer than it should have to realise he was underwater. He immediately began to panic, thinking he was going to drown, before he realised that he had some sort of mask on top of his gag pumping air into his lungs. Once he’d finally calmed down he managed to truly take in his surroundings. Eren was in some sort of large tube filled with a heavy liquid. What he’d first thought of as water, he soon realised was too thick and heavy to resemble that particular liquid. Though whatever it was was still light enough to be a liquid and other than its density he couldn’t find many other differences to water itself.

Eren’s arms had been freed from the rope holding it behind his back only to be chained up to the roof of the container he was in, while his ankles were chained to the bottom. His shirt and trousers had been stripped from him but he was thankfully still wearing his underwear. As Eren struggled to look down at his body he noticed some sort of small pads were placed all over his body, mainly his torso with wires leading out of the container and into some form of machine. When he tried to manoeuvre to get a better look Eren gasped. What he’d thought were only small pads placed on his body were instead connected to something like a needle, each one about an inch long and piercing his skin.

He didn’t get much longer to examine them as the doors to the large and dark room opened then. Eren briefly saw a hallway before the doors were closing again leaving him alone with two other men. Each one was wearing a military uniform though they wore lab coats instead of jackets. Both men were old enough to have slight grey in their hair, one more so than the other.

“Finally awake.” The taller of the two men noted as he walked up to Eren’s container while the other walked over to the large piece of machinery Eren was somehow connected to. Eren tried to look at the man carefully but whatever liquid he seemed to be submerged in made anything directly in front of him pretty blurry. “I supposed we’d better start then.” The soldier looked over to the other man who simply nodded in return and began to press some buttons in front of him. The man in front of Eren then turned back to him and began to address him directly. “Subject 1, I am Dr. Rader and my associate is Dr. Whitson. I will be asking you a series of questions which you will answer with either a nod or shake of your head. Failure to comply is unacceptable.”

Eren’s eyes widened, he didn’t understand what was going on. He didn’t know where he was , who these men were or what they even wanted from him. The last thing he remembered repeating over and over again in his head as he considered where Mikasa, Armin and Levi were now and if they were okay. He wanted to know why he was here and what they’d done to him while he was unconscious. What were the things sticking into him and why was he in a tube filled with some strange liquid.

“Let’s begin.” Dr. Rader said bluntly, not giving Eren any time to think. “Have you been a Titan since birth?” Eren didn’t know what to do, he had no idea and even if he did why did it matter. Noticing Eren’s lack of reply the doctor looked over to his companion and said something Eren couldn’t hear properly. Dr. Whitson moved to press another button and Eren immediately felt blinding pain throughout his entire body. He felt himself tensing against the restraints and screaming around the mouth gag, but he couldn’t even hear his own muffled screams through the pain. Blood rushed through his ears as he felt his entire body consumed with agony. When it finally stopped he could still feel his body vibrating from the aftershock. His muscles ached, either from the pain or from tensing his muscles he had no idea. All he knew was that he barely had enough strength to lift his head.

In the back of his mind Eren noted that the pain had originated from the weird needles stuck in his body but his exhausted mind couldn’t focus on that at the moment. He waited for the steam of healing from his Titan abilities but when the lingering effects of the pain refused to fade and there was an evident lack of steam in his small container Eren forced himself to inspect his body. Around each injection site the skin on his body looked slightly red but other than that he noted nothing out of the ordinary.

“If you’re wondering why you aren’t healing it’s because of the liquid you’re in. It prevents your body from heating itself above a controlled temperature and therefore blocks your healing abilities.” Dr. Rader explained. Eren looked up at him tiredly wondering why they were doing this to him. He’d done nothing wrong. If anything Eren had tried his best to be the best soldier and weapon possible for the military, all so that they would believe that he truly was on their side. And now he was trapped and being interrogated when he most likely held none of the answers they were seeking. “Next question, we’ll circle back afterwards.” Dr. Rader spoke again. “Did you join the military intending to be a double spy?” Eren shook his head frantically at the question, terrified they’d repeat the same torture as before. “Were you trying to gain access to classified information so that you could use it to your own ends?” Again Eren shook his head. “Assuming you weren’t born a titan, did you become one before or after joining the military?”

Eren froze, confused as to how he was supposed to even answer the question. His hesitation caused Dr. Rader to turn to his companion again. Eren tried to plead around his gag, knowing what they were about to do, but he barely managed a sound before the crippling pain encompassed him again. It felt like it went on forever before they finally turned it off, Eren’s body crumpling as much as it could afterwards. They continued to interrogate Eren for hours, each time he was unable or unwilling to answer a question he received the excruciating punishment. By the time the men finally left him alone Eren felt hopeless and broken. No matter how much he’d tried to beg they never ceased their torments. He’d tried to answer every question, if only to avoid the pain, but the things they asked him didn’t always have a simple answer, or Eren was unaware if there even was an answer in the first place.

The routine continued for the next few days, hours of questions and endless pain, followed by a long and lonely night in which Eren never quite managed to fall asleep completely. In the jumble of it all he’d managed to learn that the tubes connected to him were also able to take blood as well as provide his body with enough nutrients to make eating unnecessary, though he was still constantly hungry and knew he’d lost a bit of weight. Some days they would take Eren’s blood so they could experiment on it, each time emptying him of everything he had until he was ready to pass out before stopping right before they afforded him the luxury.

In the long hours of solitude Eren contemplated many things from his past before his home was destroyed all the way to his friends and what they were possibly doing right now. Eren had no real way of calculating the passage of time without any windows so he could only assume it had been a few days since his abduction. He was sure that no one he knew had any idea of his whereabouts or they would have come for him by now. Surely they would have come for him. As more time passed and Eren’s hopes faded he began to question even that one thought he’d held onto in the beginning.

Eren would spend hours staring off at the doors in the room, waiting for them to open and his next torture session to begin. It was always the same two scientists that entered the room, never anyone else, no guards or anything. They probably knew he wasn’t getting out of his prison anytime soon, even if he did manage to get the shackles off there was still the oxygen they could turn off until he passed out or they could use the needle things to cause him enough pain until he passed out or really any number of other things were possible to keep him confined.

The sound of the doors opening startled Eren out of his thoughts. His eyes widened when he realised that the two usual scientists were accompanied by more people. For a second he began to panic thinking they’d finally given up on him and were getting ready to end his life. But when one of the figures stepped forward Eren’s heart ached in a whole new way. It was Levi. Standing there in front of him with his eyes as wide as Eren’s own.

“As you can see, he’s perfectly fine.” Eren turned to look at the man who had spoken. He recognised him as the head of the Military Police. He stood next to Levi with his arm raised towards Eren. “We’re taking good care of the titan shifter.”

“If you’re taking such good care of him then why is he in that thing and chained up?” Levi remarked angrily, though since his usual demeanour was angry it didn’t particularly stand out.

“That?” Nile Doc, the commander of the Military Police spoke casually. “It’s purely a safety precaution, surely you understand that I can’t risk the safety of my soldiers.”

Levi paused for a moment, his eyes squinting as he examined Eren. “Of course.” In that moment it felt as though Eren’s heart had completely stopped in his chest. “And the wires? What are their purpose?” Levi continued casually, or as casually as Levi could be.

“I’ll let Dr. Rader explain those.” Doc explained gleefully.

The doctor turned away from the notes he was staring at and looked over to the pair. The man seemed to register what had been asked of him after a moment of hesitation. With a nod to Doc he turned to move over to the machine where Dr. Whitson was already placed. Eren immediately tensed and tried to speak through the gag. His muffled cries went on deaf ears by all but Levi who for the first time looked concerned for Eren. Dr. Rader simply ignored Eren and turned back to the pair by the door.

“As I’ve detailed in my reports sir, we’ve questioned Subject 1 multiple times, though he appears to either be reluctant to answer most questions or he simply does not have the knowledge we seek. As instructed he has been conditioned to answer truthfully using the electronic devices and despite their effectiveness, we have been unable to progress any further than the first session.”

“Very good Dr. Rader, Dr. Whitson.” Doc congratulated them. Seeming to understand they didn’t intend on hurting him just yet Eren finally managed to calmed down. No matter how hard he tried not to, his eyes kept wondering back over to Levi. The man still appeared concerned about Eren, though it could easily be interpreted as concern that he would somehow escape and kill all the people in the room. Eren tried to examine the man, wondering what had changed since he’d last seen him. Did Levi not love him anymore? Did he ever love him to begin with? He’d seemed so against them taking Eren away but perhaps Eren had misunderstood the situation and Levi was just annoyed that his leadership had been questioned and his possession taken away.

Eren continued to stare even when Levi tore his gaze away in order to look over to Doc. “I still don’t understand.” His annoyance evident.

“Perhaps we should give Captain Levi a demonstration?” Doc spoke to the doctors, though Eren was pretty sure it was more of an order than a question.

“Of course Commander.” Dr. Rader replied. Eren once again began to panic, his pleas being disrupted by the gag in his mouth. He tried shaking his head furiously but he was too exhausted to keep it up for more than a second or two. Dr. Rader walked up to Eren’s tank and flipped through a few pages of his notes. After a moment he looked up to Eren. “Is it possible to create more titan shifters?” They’d asked him this question many times before but he still didn’t know the answer. Eren tried to plead with his eyes, begging them to understand he couldn’t answer because he didn’t know. Instead he saw the same disappointed look appear on Dr. Rader’s face.

When the man turned to his colleague Eren’s pleas only increased in volume. But once again they ignored him and Dr. Whitson pressed the dreaded button. Eren screamed as his body lit up with unending pain. His every nerve on fire as his blood turned to ice. He pulled against the chains, every muscle in his body tense and shaking. By the time it finally stopped he felt himself collapse, his arms shaking from holding his body weight up after the strain they’d just endured. He couldn’t even bring himself to lift his head up to look at Levi. Despite thinking that Levi’s love for him was nothing but lies and tricks from his own mind, he wanted to gaze upon the man one last time before he left, possibly forever. Eren wanted to burn the image of him into his mind so that he’d never be able to forget a single detail.

It took everything he had to lift his head, his movements shaky from exhaustion. Levi stood exactly where he’d been before, not a single muscle having twitched. His eyes however seemed to burn with an intense hatred Eren couldn’t seem to understand. Did Levi hate him like everyone else did? Or was he disappointed that Eren was so weak? Did he believe that Eren deserved the punishment for not answering?

“Much like how you used pain during his trial to tame the beast, we are using it now to train him.” Doc sounded proud, like Levi would admire the fact that they’d copied his tactics.

“I see.” Levi commented, his hard eyes never leaving Eren’s.

Doc deflated slightly at Levi’s lack of praise. After a moment he seemed to compose himself and turned back to the scientists. “We’ll let you get back to it.” With those final words he turned around and marched out of the room. Noticing Levi wasn’t following Doc froze in his steps and looked at the other man expectantly. It felt like an eternity in which Levi simply stared at Eren, not a word escaping his lips, before he finally turned on the spot and walked straight past Doc. Eren watched his retreating figure wishing for him to turn around and look at him one last time, but when the doors finally closed behind the pair Eren let his head drop in defeat, uncaring that the doctor was approaching him for what seemed to be today’s interrogation.


	3. Chapter 3

The interrogations only seemed to become more brutal as time passed, Eren’s ability to answer questions diminishing with every day. More than once he’d wondered how much longer it could possibly go on for. When would the military finally give in and either kill him for being useless or believe his innocence and let him go. Either way it meant some sort of freedom for Eren and with each passing day he stopped caring which outcome it would be, simply hoping for one option to finally present itself.

Once again he found himself unable to sleep, his mind refusing to give into the peaceful rest despite his body begging for it. His eyes drifted open again, searching the impossibly dark room for anything new. He needed something, even if it were a new spot of dirt, to look at, to examine, to scrutinise until he’d memorised every last part of it. At least then he’d have something to do for a while. Much to Eren’s dismay the room was the exact same as it had been the last time he’d checked, nothing new to steal his attention away and distract his mind for even the shortest moment.

Eren almost jumped out of his skin when he noticed the doors to the room creaking open slowly. His mind began to buzz frantically, it wasn’t time yet for another interrogation. It was too early, he still had more time to recover. The thought of facing another interrogation so soon after the last one sent a new wave of fear through his body. It wasn’t that he could actually recover between sessions due to the stupid liquid he was standing in, but he needed the time to gather his thoughts and mentally prepare himself. And now it seemed that they were even going to take that small luxury away from him. Eren shuddered at the thought and winced as his small movement sent a new wave of pain from each injection site. Every puncture mark sore and overly sensitive from the constant abuse they received. Eren whined slightly from the pain, too tired to hold in the sound.

When someone finally walked through the doors, Eren once again found himself unable to understand what was going on. Before long there were multiple figures standing in the dark room, none of which were the doctors. Eren struggled to see their faces but it was too dark to distinguish any features. He watched as one of them walked over to the wall and light a match igniting the torch on the wall. As the light spilled into the rest of the room and light up his surroundings, Eren found himself unable to believe the sight before him.

In front of him stood the 104th squadron. His friends all looking upon him at once with mixed expressions of shock, pity and anger.

“Armin,” Levi spoke quietly, “snap out of it and figure out how to get him out of that thing.”

It took a moment for Armin to peel his eyes away from Eren and over to his captain. “Yes sir.” He whispered back before walking over to the large machine next to Eren.

“Jean, Connie, Sasha, stand guard.” Three pairs of eyes looked over to Levi before mumbling a quiet ‘yes sir’ and heading back over to the door, weapons at the ready.

Eren tore his eyes away from the trio and over to Mikasa who had made her away over to Eren. Slowly she lifted her hand to place it against the tank. Eren watched as tears began to pool in her eyes, though none dared drop onto her cheeks. She stared at him for a while before silently speaking his name, almost like a plea. He stared at his sister disbelievingly. His mind was reeling, unable to believe what he was seeing was true. He must have finally passed out and this was just a stress induced dream. Seeing Mikasa on the verge of tears convince him it couldn’t be reality, his sister never cried, she was the strongest person he’d ever met, other than Levi. Levi!

Eren looked over to the older man hoping to see those incredible grey eyes, instead all he saw was the man’s back as he worked with Armin over by the machine. Eren silently willed the man to turn around, after all, if it was his dream Eren should be able to decide how it went. He wanted to look at Levi again. It seemed no matter how long he stared at the man he would never get tired of it. Watching the way he moved, listening to his voice, it was all so entrancing to Eren. When Levi refused to turn around Eren clenched his eyes shut, not wanting to see his back. It felt like he was being rejected, no matter he wanted to see Levi’s face he was denied and left to wonder what kind of emotion laid behind those eyes. He wanted to know if his imagination could captivate the same beauty the real life version had. If he could conjure the same spark that made Levi special.

“I think I’ve got it.” Armin mumbled quietly. Eren couldn’t help but open his eyes at the sound of his friend’s voice. He felt a jolt of fear run through him as the blond boy reached his hand out towards one of the buttons on the machine. Eren immediately began to scream, knowing his dream was quickly turning into a nightmare in which his friends became the very people who tortured him. Everyone’s heads snapped around to face Eren at once, Armin’s hand freezing in mid air. Eren began to shake his head and plead for him to stop. He didn’t want to watch his friend pull the trigger and subject him to more pain. He couldn’t take it anymore. It was too much.

“Shit.” Levi growled before darting over to Eren’s tank. “Hey it’s okay brat. You’re not gonna get hurt anymore okay? I promise.” Ere shook his head at the man, unable to believe his words. “Look at me Eren.” He couldn’t help but comply as he heard the commanding tone Levi used. “We’re getting you out of here and you’ll never have to feel that pain again. I swear. You just need to trust me.” Despite his better judgement Eren force himself to calm down. His brain was screaming at him that this was just a dream, but after seeing Levi up close, he didn’t think he could imagine the man so perfectly, even the way he talked was just so…Levi. “Alright.” Levi said after Eren had finally managed to calm himself down. Without breaking eye contact with Eren, Levi spoke, “Armin, do it.” Eren forced himself not to look away from Levi, but he could still see Armin in the corner of his eye and as he noticed the boy moving his arm again Eren couldn’t help but flinch in anticipation.

Without meaning to Eren had closed his eyes, waiting for the pain. But it never came, instead there was a weird rumbling sound and then the strange liquid around him began to drain into the grate in the floor. As the level dropped Eren could feel cold air hitting his skin for the first time in forever. He shivered at the contact causing his muscles to protest and the incision sites to flare with pain. It took a couple of minutes for the liquid to completely disappear, leaving Eren a shivering wreck. Once the last drops fell through the grate, there was a sound of rushing air and the front part of the container popped open.

“Grab the keys.” Levi ordered Mikasa who had moved to the side to make way for the man. She reached over to something behind Eren and pulled back a set of keys which she quickly used to start unlocking him, starting with his ankles. While she unlocked his ankles, Levi reached around Eren and removed the strange oxygen mask before starting to unbuckle the gag from around his mouth. Mikasa was onto his arms when Levi finally managed to get the piece free. Levi threw the piece of metal away uselessly before turning back to Eren cupping his face in his hands and gently stroking his cheeks with his thumbs.

Mikasa was just about to unlock his first arm when Armin suddenly spoke up. “Mikasa stop!” He whisper shouted. “We need to take out the other things first.”

She turned to him with an annoyed glare. “What are you talking about Armin?”

“Look,” he pointed towards the needle inserted on Eren’s right side by his ribs. “It’s not stuck on, they’re inside him.” Mikasa and Levi moved to observed the little needle that had somehow managed to loosen slightly and was now poking out enough to show the pierced skin behind the small pad.

“What the hell.” Levi ground out angrily. He reached forward as if to touch it and Eren winced away from him as much as he could with his arms still restrained. The small movement caused the other needles to jostle and aggravate the wounds. Eren whimpered, unable to stifle the sound once again. “Brat?”

“Don’t” He gasped out, his voice hoarse from lack of use and barely above a whisper. “Hurts.”

“We have to get them out Eren.” Mikasa tried to reason.

“Please.” He begged, unable to stomach the thought of any more pain.

“Look at the skin around the wounds.” Armin pointed out. “It looks really red and inflamed.”

“He should be healing though.” Mikasa turned to their childhood friend accusingly. But Armin didn’t seem to have the answer to her silent question.

“Liquid.” Eren tried to explain. He needed them to understand so that they wouldn’t take the things out and cause him any more pain. “Stopped healing.” They all looked down to the grate on the floor. Levi leaned down and picked up a droplet on his finger before bringing his hand closer to his face so he could examine it.

“It’s not water, too thick, and it smells odd.” He stated before standing back up. They were silent for another moment before Armin spoke again.

“We still need to get those things out, they’re attached to tubes that lead to the machine. We can’t get Eren out of here without removing them first.” Eren whimpered at the statement.

“Can’t we just cut the wires?” Mikasa asked annoyed. Armin shook his head sadly.

“They’re too thick.”

“Fuck!” Levi swore softly before turning back to Eren and putting his hands back on his face in an attempt to calm him. “We’re gonna have to take them out brat.” Eren tried to shake his head to protest but Levi held steady and Eren didn’t even have enough energy to stand up, let alone fight Levi’s grasp. “I know it hurts, but it’s the only option.” Levi closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against Eren’s almost as if he could transfer his strength over to him. “And you can’t scream.” Levi whispered to him. “We need to stay as quiet as possible or we’re gonna have unwanted company.” He pulled his head away and opened his eyes again. “You understand?”

Eren nodded his head, but he couldn’t stop his breathing from increasing and becoming a lot more shallow. If flinching caused waves of pain from the tiny demons he didn’t even want to think about what taking one out would fee like. Eren felt himself panicking and couldn’t stop no matter how hard he tried.

Levi looked at him with nothing but kindness, “You need to breathe Eren. I’m gonna try and do it quickly okay?” Eren nodded in understanding. He grabbed onto the chains holding his arms up and bit his bottom lip in preparation, hoping it would stop any howls of pain from escaping him. Levi reached forward towards the needle that was already starting to come loose. With one last look towards Eren he reached forwards and pulled the needle out in one quick movement. Eren tried his best, but the sudden tug pulled a scream from his throat. It felt like his side was on fire, his skin sending wave after wave of pain out from the puncture site towards the rest of his body. Mikasa quickly slammed her hand over Eren’s mouth stifling his shout.

He was breathing harshly, trying to will the pain to subside. Levi lifted the offending object up to inspect it. What Eren had thought to be a smooth needles had jagged edges all around it. It was cut especially in a way to rip and tear at flesh when pulled out. It must have been what kept them in place so easily. With another expletive leaving his mouth Levi threw away the needle onto the floor to join his gag and mask. “I know it hurts Eren but we need to get these things out and we’re running out of time. Mikasa, keep his mouth covered, we can’t afford to have anyone hear us.” She nodded solemnly, her hand tightening around Eren’s face. “Armin, look around, see if there’s a medical kit around here somewhere.” The blonde nodded in agreement before disappearing from Eren’s side. Once he was out of sight Levi turned back to Eren. “Here we go.” It seemed the words were more for himself than for Eren. “We’re gonna do this in quick succession so as not to draw out the pain. Once I start I’m not going to stop until they’re all out.” Eren wanted to object but he knew Levi was only trying to make it easier on him, that, and Mikasa was making it impossible to do so.

With a single nod towards Mikasa Levi grabbed at the nearest needle and yanked it out. Eren didn’t even have a chance to register the pain from the first one before Levi moved onto the next. Despite Levi’s fast pace, the pain seemed to catch up to Eren and he howled out in agony, Mikasa doing her best to silence him. Everywhere Levi moved was quickly followed by a sharp tug, the throbbing of skin and the feeling of nerve endings burning. The sound of needle after needle hitting the floor was easily drowned out by Eren. After what felt like an eternity Levi finally seemed to stop, but the burning pain continued on even after the man had stilled. “Armin! Where’s that medical kit?” Levi demanded.

The blonde boy came rushing over, “I can’t find one anywhere.” He cried. Eren finally managing to convert his screams into whimpers.

“Fucking morons!” Levi cussed. “Fine. Mikasa release his arms, I’ll hold him.” Mikasa did as told without hesitation. Eren felt Levi’s arms wrap around his waist supporting his weight. The loss of tension from his arms caused the muscles to cramp in pain. He hadn’t been able to support his weight for most of the time he’d been trapped, relying only on the chains to hold him up. As Mikasa released his first arm she gently guided it down instead of just letting the appendage drop. Once she’d placed it softly on Levi’s shoulder she moved onto the next one, making quick work of the lock. When he was finally free Levi swept him up into his arms, the movement aggravating Eren’s wounds and causing him to whimper even louder. “Shhh, it’s okay. I’ve got you brat.” Levi whispered gently. “Let’s go.” He announced loudly to the rest of them before he started to head towards the door.

Eren curled in closer to Levi, trying not to make the pain in his body any worse. He craved the man’s warmth and security. For the first time in forever Eren felt like he could finally breathe again. Levi was right here, caring for him, protecting him. He’d wanted nothing more than to be held by him for the longest time and now that his wish had finally com true Eren found himself fighting his exhaustion that had finally caught up to him. Knowing he was safe with Levi allowed his mind to relax and provide the much needed rest his body craved. But Eren didn’t want to fall asleep, afraid if he did he’d wake up back in his cage, all of this having been a dream after all. Despite how hard he tried, Eren couldn’t fight his body very long and soon found his eyes closing. The last thing he saw was the faces of his comrades and friends circling Levi and himself in order to protect them.


	4. Chapter 4

Eren was getting really sick of waking up in strange places. Though this time he felt considerably better than he did the last two times.When he was conscious enough, he noticed he was lying in a bed with a blanket wrapped around him. He tried to move slightly but winced when he found his muscles aching in protest. He tried to remember what had happened to him but try as he might the memories refused to surface. Perhaps he’d been moved to another cell, but if that were true then why was he not tied up? Eren tried to clear his foggy mind but the answers refused to come.

He finally managed to peel his eyes open and found he was in a small bedroom, light seeping in through a window on the wall opposite him. Eren considered climbing through it and making a break for it but the window was half his size and he doubted even if he could fit that his muscles would allow him to move fast enough to escape any pursuers. Eren continued to examine the room and found a small table next to the bed a drawer and a glass of water perched on it. He forced his muscles to move and reached dover to open the drawer. His heart leap as he found a small dagger inside. Without a second thought he reached over and snatched it up. It wasn’t very large but it was better than nothing, especially considering Eren knew he was in no shape to turn into a titan, the effort would probably cause him to pass out again.

Trying to make as little sound as possible Eren dragged himself out of the bed, happy to see that he was dressed in a pair of trousers and a shirt. When he reached the door he thanked every higher power he could think of after finding it unlocked. Outside there was a small hallway leading to what Eren presumed to be the rest of the house. Being as quiet as possible Eren crept along the hallway, just as he was about to turn around the corner someone walked right into him. Eren ignored his screaming muscles and used his combat skills to trap the stranger in a hold with the knife to their throat.

“Where am I?” He growled at the stranger.

“Hey, calm down.” The man struggled against his hold but Eren held steady.

“Answer my question! Where am I?” He was using every bit of strength he had to remain calm and hold the man tightly. Before he could reply the front door of the house swung open to reveal Levi. The man seemed just as shocked to see Eren as he was to see Levi.

“Eren?” Levi said after a moment. “Brat relax, that’s Loria Burel, he owns this house and is a friend of Erwin's.” Eren hesitated for a moment, his arm loosening slightly before he composed himself and tightened his hold again.

“I don’t believe you!” Eren spat. “You fucking handed me over to them and then watched as they tortured me!” He could feel his eyes getting glassy but refused to cry. He would not shed a tear for Levi Ackermann, not after he’d betrayed him.

“Is that what you think?” Levi sounded broken. “I would never, ever, hand you over brat. They stormed into headquarters and rounded us all up with guns. Then they fucking drugged you and brought you to the rest of us. Try and remember, I know you were awake.” Levi pleaded with him.

“How do I know it wasn’t all for show? After all you did show up afterwards and watched them…” Eren chocked on his words, a sob trying to escape him. He took a breath before continuing, “You watched them ‘interrogate’ me.” The word felt like acid in his mouth. Levi flinched at his words.

“After they took you, they demanded Mikasa, Armin and I all go with them to Wall Cina. When we got there they took you away and marched us to some random room to wait. It was fucking hours before someone finally showed up and it was the big shot himself, commander Doc. I tried to find out what they’d done to you but they wouldn’t tell us anything. I realised if I was ever gonna get them to tell me where you were I’d have to pretend that I didn’t care about getting you back, that I was just curious. It took days, but I finally managed to get the asshole to lead me to you.” Levi’s voice cracked and Eren was stunned to see his eyes were watering. “When I saw you brat, I wanted to tear that fucking building apart brick by brick. And then I saw what they did.” A tear finally broke free and started to fall down Levi’s cheek. “The hardest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life was walking away from you then. I wanted to take you away from that place then and there but I knew I’d never make it out of there like that. So I left. And when I finally managed to gather the rest of your idiot friends we got you out of there the first chance we got.”

Eren briefly remembered being set free, but he was so sure it had been a dream. He couldn’t afford to trust that it was real. If he messed up he’d end up straight back in that tank and he’d rather die than go back there. Eren shook his head in denial, “I still don’t believe you. You could be making it all up. I can’t trust you anymore.”

“Eren please.” He sounded so sincere than when he took a step forwards Eren didn’t react. “Please brat, you need to believe me. I would rather fucking chop my own arms off than hurt you.” When Levi took another step forwards Eren tensed, pressing the knife further against Loria’s throat, the man tensing further in response.

“No, I won’t go back. I ca-” He is statement was cut off as the door opened once again revealing the rest of squad Levi.

“Eren!” Mikasa and Armin shouted in unison before darting forward. Without even thinking Eren released the man he was holding and dropped the knife before embracing his two friends. Too soon they pulled away, though thankfully they didn’t stray from his side.

“You look like shit Yaeger.” Jean snorted at him. Instead of replying he looked over to Levi knowing the man had been telling the truth. The rest of the room followed his gaze and were stunned into silence by the sight of tears on the man’s cheeks.

“I’m sorry.” Eren chocked out, realising what he’d accused the man of. The one man he’d trusted above all others, the very one he’d given his heart too, and Eren had gone and accused him of betraying him like he never cared in the first place.

“Is he crying?” Connie whispered loudly to Jean who in turn elbowed him sharply in the stomach.

“Shut up moron.” Jean hissed, his worried eyes trained on Levi, expecting the man to lash out at them.

Levi instead ignored the pair, his focus solely on Eren, like nothing else existed in the world. Eren felt like Levi’s gaze was crushing his very soul, the guilt of his words ripping at his heart. “I’m s-sorry.” Eren felt his knees buckle, his strength seemed to drain from his body all at once. Before he could fall any further a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his body and held him steady.

“It’s okay, it’s okay brat. You’re safe. I’ve got you.” Levi hushed him, his hand moving so that he could stroke Eren’s hair away from his face. Eren in turn clutched to Levi like a lifeline. “Breathe for me, okay? Slowly, in and out.” Eren hadn’t even noticed he’d started to hyperventilate. He focused on his breathing and forced the breaths to come out evenly.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn- I shouldn’t have accused y-you.” Eren finally managed to breathe out. Levi shook his head lightly and continued to stroke Eren’s hair.

“Don’t apologise, you were only trying to protect yourself. I’m proud of you brat. You looked like you were gonna drop any second but you held onto that knife without even shaking.” Levi praised him gently.

“Loria, I- I need to apologise.” Eren struggled in Levi’s grasp but the man refused to let him go.

“He’s fine Eren. He’s a big boy who can handle a knife to the throat every once in a while.” When Eren finally nodded his agreement Levi seemed to loosen his hold on him slightly. “How about we get up off this disgusting floor? I bet Loria hasn’t cleaned it in half a decade.” The disgust in Levi’s voice caused an unexpected chuckle to escape from his throat. It came out half chocked, but the sound still seemed to pull a smile from Levi. Without another word Levi helped Eren to stand and made sure he kept a hold on him when he realised Eren wasn’t exactly strong enough to hold himself up.

Eren looked over to Levi about to thank him when he noticed the drying tear tracks on his face. He gently lifted his hand and brushed them with his thumb. Levi brought his hand up over Eren’s and leaned his head into the feeling for a moment before pulling away. When his eyes broke away from Eren’s a scowl made its way onto his face and a harsh glare stained his features. “If you fuckers even think about telling anyone about this I’ll fucking tear you apart slowly piece by piece.” Everyone but Mikasa seemed to quiver from the threat, all of them letting out a pathetic ‘yes sir’ in reply. Eren couldn’t help the fond smile that made its way onto his face at his reaction. He felt pride knowing he was the only one allowed to see Levi vulnerable and scared.

Just then the front door opened once again, Eren flinching at the sound and then grimacing from the pain in his body. Luckily the only one to notice seemed to be Levi. Eren glanced back over to the door to see Erwin and Hanji walking into the small house. The room was starting to feel quite crowded to Eren, but that might have been because he hadn’t been around this many people in a long time. Both of the newcomers froze in their steps when they spotted Eren. Erwin smiled kindly to Eren while Hanji’s smile seemed almost manic, her eyes going as wide as saucers.

“You’re finally awake!” Hanji screeched happily, “Tell me everything! I’m dying to know what happened to you!” Her cheerful tone seemed to grate on Eren’s nerves and he tried to remind himself that Hanji wasn’t happy about the fact that he’d been taken, just at the opportunity of gaining new knowledge.

“Not now shitty-glasses.” Levi warned but she simply ignored him.

“What was it like? Do you remember it? Did they have anyone else there?” She fired off quickly, not really giving him a chance to reply.

“Ummm…Bad, yes and no.” Eren replied. He felt like he was about to choke on thin air, the questions were reminding him of his interrogations and his body was responding the same way it had then.

“Levi said you were inside a tank with some sort of liquid, what was it?” She was practically bouncing on her feet, the glee in the woman’s eyes obvious.

“I… I don’t…” Eren struggled, his body starting to shake visibly. He could feel his blood running cold and found each breath harder and harder. “Don’t! Please, no!” Eren wrapped his arms around himself as best as he could, awaiting the inevitable pain that came when he failed to answer a question. He scrunched his eyes shut and tried to breathe but it felt like his lungs refused to work anymore. “I’m sorry! I don’t know! I don’t know!”

“Eren? Calm down, it’s okay. You’re safe.” Levi tried to reassure him but he could practically feel the pain ghosting along his skin. Once again he found his legs refusing to work and suddenly all of his weight was being held by Levi. The abrupt shift caused the man to fall slightly onto his knees, taking Eren along with him.

“Please!” Eren cried, “It hurts!” He could hear shouting around him, but his brain couldn’t seem to register who was saying what.

“What’s going on?!”

“Eren!”

“Is he injured?!”

Eren felt himself being lifted before he was placed gently onto a soft cushion, his mind briefly registering the fact there was a sofa in the small room they had been standing in. “It’s okay. I’m right here, I swear, I’ll never let them hurt you again. You’re safe here brat.” The words were gently whispered against his ear as he felt Levi wrapping himself around him. “You need to breathe, in and out.” He focused his attention on the sound of Levi’s voice as the man continued to whisper calming words to him and eventually Eren managed to follow his instructions and calm his breathing, though his body was still shaking profusely. “There you go, you’re doing great Eren. Can you open your eyes for me?”

It took a moment, but after a minute or so he finally managed to pry his eyelids open and saw Levi gazing down at him worriedly. Eren’s own eyes had become watery and made the man in front of him slightly blurry.

“Let me take a look at him.” Hanji spoke from over Levi’s shoulder. Eren watched him instantly tense before he whipped around to reply to the woman.

“Don’t you dare! You fucking set him off with all your stupid questions!”

“I didn’t ask him anything bad.” She tried to defend. “There was nothing wrong with my questions, I don’t understand why he reacted so badly to them anyway.”

“Because he was interrogated and tortured!” Levi growled at her, Eren wincing at the memories that flashed through his mind. Everyone in the room seemed to gasp at once.

“You never said.” Hanji whispered, her voice sounding full of guilt.

“What was I supposed to say?! That I had to stand there and watch as they tortured him right in front of me and act like nothing was wrong. Or that I turned around and walked away from him, listening to his screams even from down the hallway. How about the fact that they got the fucking idea of using pain to control him from me when I attacked him in the courtroom!”

“Levi, this was not your fault.” Erwin tried to comfort the man.

“Of course it fucking is! He was my responsibility and I let this happen to him!”

“No.” Eren chocked out, his voice sounding croaky even to his own ears. Levi turned back around, his eyes wide at the sound of Eren’s voice. “I never should have blamed you Lee.” Eren reached his hand forward and started to gently stroke the man’s face. “None of it was your fault. I had no right to accuse you before, I’m sorry.”

Levi shook his head sadly at Eren, his hand moving to rest on top or Eren’s. “You shouldn’t be apologising to me brat. It’s my fault.”

“Don’t!” Eren snapped. “I don’t want to ever hear you blaming yourself for what happened. Promise me Levi.” The older man looked hesitant for a moment before he sighed heavily.

“Okay.” He whispered. “I promise.” Eren smiled in response.

“Good.” He removed his hand from Levi’s face and went to sit up but was suddenly reminded of his physical state when sharp pains emanated from all of his puncture sights. He tried to stifle his pained gasp but his facial expression must have given him away since everyone immediately tensed again. Eren bit his bottom lip and clenched his eyes shut waiting for the wave of pain to subside.

Hanji was the first to speak once it seemed Eren had finally calmed down again. “Let me take a look.” Her words immediately causing Levi to tense and shift so that his body was obscuring Eren from view. At the sound of her voice Eren had opened his eyes, only to watch his partner react so protectively. As much as he didn’t like the idea of Hanji poking at him, he knew it was important for her to see the wounds in case she knew how to heal him since his own abilities seemed to have stopped working.

“It’s okay.” Eren spoke softly, moving his hand to Levi’s shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Levi looked into Eren’s eyes as if looking for some sort of sign before he conceded and moved to the side to allow Hanji access to Eren. Noting his acceptance Hanji immediately walked over to Eren and tentatively lifted his shirt up revealing his torso along with the heavily bruised puncture wounds. Each spot looked slightly inflamed and incredibly sore. Slowly Hanji reached her hand forward and brushed her fingertips along the skin of one of the marked areas. Despite the minimal contact she made, Eren still felt his nerves flaring in protest, eliciting another poorly concealed hiss from his lips. The woman immediately retracted her hand, though she kept her hold on his shirt so that she could continue to examine him.

“Eren, I need you to listen to me when I say nothing bad will happen to you if you can’t answer me and I don’t want you to feel pressured at all to even try, but I need to ask if you have any idea at all what could be stopping you from healing?” Eren tensed for a brief second. He looked into her eyes and saw nothing but sincerity and kindness in them.

Forcing himself to take a calming breath Eren started to reply. “I remember them saying something about the liquid I was in. They said it was stopping my body from getting hot and steaming which somehow prevented me from healing.” Hanji smiled at him encouragingly and Eren felt Levi gripping his hand gently in support.

“Okay.” She replied, her brows furrowing in thought for a second. “Well maybe your prolonged exposure to it has temporarily blocked your powers. It could be that an extended period of time away from it will cause them to kick back in.”

“And if not?” Levi asked worriedly.

“Then Eren will have to heal like the rest of us. Slowly and painfully.” She supplied sullenly as she lowered his shirt back down.


End file.
